World’s first electric city-cars

27.05.2009 | news

Statkraft is sponsoring the electric cars that will be cruising the city of Oslo.

Zero emissions, no noise, fewer cars, less traffic. Oslo is to be the first city in the world to get electric city-cars, and Statkraft is sponsoring the vehicles that will now be cruising the city’s streets.

The Norwegian company Move About and Statkraft are launching a world-first in presenting a car-share solution using electric cars. Within a year, 75 cars will be readily available around and about in Oslo. Initially, 13 electric cars will be located at Oslo S station, in Parkveien and at IT Fornebu. There is a subscription fee of NOK 100 a month and the rental runs from an hourly rate of NOK 100 to a weekend price of NOK 800.

The electric cars are practical, safe and fun to drive. Through this service, Statkraft is helping to considerably lower the threshold for emission-free driving. Access to bus lanes, no tolls and free parking make this a practical way to travel for people with jobs and errands in the city.

Walking the talk

Statkraft is involved in the concept through its sponsorship of the cars, which has made it possible to launch the service. “We are Europe’s largest renewable energy company, and we’d like to have seen Norway focus even more on both the generation and use of renewable energy. So it’s a pleasure to make a contribution to this project”, says Grete Ingeborg Nykkelmo, Statkraft’s head of marketing.

Statkraft also offers electric cars for sharing by employees who need a car during work hours. “It is important to walk the talk, and this concept is an effective way for us at Statkraft to make use of clean energy”, Nykkelmo says.

Car and train

The car can be booked by the hour, the day or the weekend, and members of the scheme get access to the cars using a personal wireless access card.

NSB, the Norwegian rail operator, sees this as a positive step towards getting people to choose eco-friendly transport and they used a pilot project to invite their customers to try out the new service.

“NSB wants to make it easy for customers to take the train into work, even on days when they need a car during the day. 5 cars will be readily accessible at Oslo S station, which will make it easy for passengers to use the service”, says Stein Nilsen, Head of NSB’s passenger train division.

Environmentalists lend their support

Friends of the Earth Norway are also behind the electric car-share scheme in Oslo and, through a cooperation agreement with Statkraft, have given the cars their seal of approval.

“Increased use of electric cars is key to efforts to reduce noxious air pollution in major cities, so we welcome these electric city-cars,” says the head of Friends of the Earth Norway, Lars Haltbrekken.